Airbnb supports women entrepreneurs during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

Airbnb has awarded three startups founded by women from all the projects participating in womenup, the program Airbnb launched to support women entrepreneurship. Gudog, TappWater and WallyBoo have received a €2,000 award and a scholarship from the Founder Institute Madrid to participate in a four-month accelerator program, among the projects participating.

With womenup, Airbnb—in collaboration with Impact Hub Madrid—has given the opportunity to 40 female entrepreneurs from Spain and Portugal to attend the 4YFN event of the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The entrepreneurs have to showcase their own projects and learn from leaders of the tech sector. In support of entrepreneurs who live outside Barcelona, Airbnb has also provided free accommodation.

Get to know the winners!

Loly Garrido was inspired by Airbnb and transformed her passion for pets into her startup: Gudog. The company is an alternative to dog residences and aims to put experienced dog carers in contact with people who need someone to take care of their pet.

Rocío Alcocer, with TappWater, aims to minimise environmental impact from water consumption, promoting the use of tap water for drinking. Conscious of the fact that, even though it is high-quality water, the taste is sometimes not enjoyable, this project has created cheap and easy installable tap filters. Rocío is also conscious about the role of women in technology, “last year I read about the low number of women in the MWC and convinced myself I had to be here.”

Elisa Chamorro has created the platform WallyBoo after her own travel experiences with children, to make it easier to rent and sell second-hand children and babies equipment among individuals. The goal is to reduce the economic burden on families and help improve access to necessary products in the first years of a child’s life.

Arnaldo Muñoz, general manager of Airbnb Marketing Services, states “we believe in the importance of helping innovative projects to develop all their potential, as well as promoting women empowerment in the tech sector. We are proud of giving our support to these initiatives and we wish them all the success they deserve.”